The One Who Walks on Three Paths
by ingol
Summary: Gods were the centre point of this universe. But when something from outside of this universe enters uninvited, that's where things go awry, for better or for worse.
1. Chapter 1

Gods were the centre point of the universe.

This universe, to be accurate, out of the millions of billions of universes separated by an invisible, untouchable, almost impenetrable barrier.

Almost.

Centuries ago the Destruction Dragon Taksaka took a female form.

In Vishnu's visions of the many paths of future, this would make no difference.

Taksaka would still have a son named Kasak, and the best possible future would still be barely out of reach.

But none of the primeval gods expected that a soul would pass through the barrier, into their current universe.

Souls were fickle things. They didn't decide the consciousness, didn't decide the personality. And yet, they were catalysts, able to bring up figments of memory from the lives of bodies they had once resided in.

Lost souls would drift until they found their way into purgatory, were eaten, or discovered a suitable body.

Ian Rajof, a quarter, was barely a month pregnant when the soul found her and the two zygotes attached to her womb.

One would survive to maturity, while the other was already dead and would soon be flushed out by her body.

The soul entered her body and enveloped itself with the zygote. And in moments, what was previously just dead was now alive, its cells multiplying to keep up with its twin which had yet to develop or receive its own soul.

Five months later, she would announce the fact that she was expecting twins to her husband.

And the future that Vishnu had expected drastically veered off course.

* * *

"Triya! Are you alright?" Triya woke up with a painful throbbing headache and a man with four tiny horns on his head looking at her.

She blinked at him slowly, then raised her hands and looked at the odd red claws.

'I'm not human.' She thought, then turned her attention to the man. 'Who is this guy?'

"Who are you?" She asked.

The man twitched.

Then, he turned to an olive-haired man standing by the doorway.

"Vishnu. Why the hell did you drop my daughter?" He roared.

The man raised both his hands, laughing nervously. "I didn't do it on purpose, Tak."

"Like hell you didn't! You're a god! You're not supposed to just drop things! Especially not my daughter!" Tak snarled.

"…Father." Triya – was that her name? – spoke up.

Tak turned to her.

"My head hurts." She said and looked at him accusingly. "Please stop shouting."

Tak looked depressed for a moment.

The man, Vishnu laughed.

"You are, my father?" Triya asked. Tak nodded.

Then she pointed at Vishnu. "Who's that guy? My other dad?"

Someone laughed. A beautiful woman with light pink hair entered the room, followed by a boy with grayish-pink hair and four horns on his head clutching at her skirt.

"Ian! I would never cheat on you!" Tak said frantically, then glared at Vishnu. "Especially not with this guy who dropped our daughter."

"Triya. Do you remember me?" The woman, Ian, asked. The boy looked at Triya with dark red eyes. He had the same claw-like things that she did.

Triya shook her head.

"I'm your mother. This is your twin brother, Kasak."

Ah. That explained their similarities. Triya patted the top of her head to check if she had horns as well.

She touched something hard and nubby."

"I have horns?" She asked.

Ian looked worried.

"Oi, Vishnu." Tak started.

Ian looked between Triya and the two men, looking uncertain.

"Ignore them." Kasak said, tugging at the hem of her skirt. "We're halfs. Of course we have horns." Kasak explained, which told Triya absolutely nothing.

"Half?"

"Did you lose your common sense?" Kasak asked.

"Oi!" Tak snapped. Kasak flinched, and Ian frowned.

Okay, blatant favouritism. Triya blinked, then scowled.

"Don't treat him like that!" She yelled. Tak looked taken back.

Triya grabbed Kasak's hand. "What are halfs?" She asked.

"Halfs are- Um. Mom?" Kasak turned to Ian.

"Halfs are children of a human and a sura."

Another unfamiliar term Triya didn't know.

"What's a sura."

Ian's mouth fell open.

"Oi, next you're gonna say that you don't know what's a god?"

"Don't be silly. I know what's a god." Triya announced. Ian seemed to sigh in relief, until Triya said her next sentence.

"Gods are beings of faith that don't exist."

There was an uncomfortable silence as everyone in the room turned to Vishnu.

The man laughed awkwardly. Then Tak attempted to punch him.

* * *

Triya spent the next few days with Vishnu – who was apparently a god – by her side, reteaching her about the world.

"But how does it work? Does the god give a part of their power to whoever is born in that month? Why would someone born in a specific month have a stronger attribute as compared to others? Can't they just work harder?"

"You didn't ask so many questions in the past." Vishnu looked pained.

"You didn't drop me on the head in the past." Triya retorted.

"It's the same reason why gods exist."

"Telling me that that's just how the world works isn't gonna fly, you know?" Triya said flatly.

Trying to fit this new knowledge to the one of her past life in another world was hard. There were parts that Vishnu didn't want to explain to her – or couldn't.

"Okay, fine. Birthday attributes. Then sura magic and divine magic. I'm a half, so does that mean I can use both?"

"That's…" Vishnu trailed off, looking considering. "Normally, it would be impossible for halfs to use divine magic." He said slowly, "but Vritra halfs have a sura form and can use transcendentals. Human magic is derived from a god's transcendental, which is why birth attributes have an impact as it means that the human has a closer affinity to the god."

"Closer affinity? But if I'm close to you now, does that mean that I can use divine magic too?"

"No, not that sort of affinity. Still, would you like to try?" The smile Vishnu had made him look like a half-mad scientist.

"Aren't you the god of time and stuff? Can't you just look into the future and see one possible future where I try it out and tell me what happens?"

"…Did you know that I can't use Insight on you?" Vishnu asked suddenly.

Triya turned to him, confused. "So you can't read my mind? Big deal."

"No, I'm a primeval god. The only ones that I can't use Insight on are the other primeval gods. Not to mention that in none of possible futures that I've seen, have I seen your presence. Tak only has a son, not a daughter. I cannot see your future."

Triya gaped at him. "Wow. Way to give a girl existential issues."

Vishnu's smile wasn't friendly at all.

"Did you drop me on purpose then? To kill me off and make this current world fit your ideal future?" Triya asked idly, trying not to show how unsettled she was.

"Yes, I did." Vishnu said.

Triya clapped. "I admire your honesty." She said primly. "Honestly, I thought that as a god, you would've already known."

"Without Insight, and with my inability to look into your past and future, in regards to you, I am blind."

"Sheesh." Triya stared at her claws. "I didn't know what halfs and suras were. I didn't think that gods existed and questioned the existence of magic itself. Why don't you tell me what you can guess from all that?"

Vishnu looked at her. "It has been theorised," he started, "that there are other universes where gods do not exist, and thus no primeval gods to create and manipulate the universe. In such a universe, there are no gods and no suras. Only humans with technology and no magic."

"I wouldn't say only humans. We hadn't explored other planets yet, not to mention the other galaxies." Triya said, stretching. "You're totally right, by the way. In the universe I remember, gods didn't exist. Only belief. It was totally relaxing. We didn't have to worry about the world ending or sh-stuff, only about human rights issues and idiot leaders who should've been assassinated long ago."

Vishnu smiled wryly. "I had expected a world with only humans to be full of chaos."

Triya snapped her fingers. "You're not wrong. There were hundreds of wars. Until people started to wise up and armed themselves while preaching about world peace. Ahh, enough about my world! I'm gonna try divine magic. Gimme a spell."

"Hoti magic doesn't require the same attribute as a god. I suppose that you could attempt it. You can try hoti vishnu. It should rewind the time of an object or person to a point of time."

"Doesn't it feel awkward using your own name?" Triya asked. She pointed at a tree. "Hoti vishnu!"

Nothing.

She turned to Vishnu, looking accusing.

"You need to supply rigor to the spell. As a Vritra half, you should have more than enough."

"In the first place, what the hell is rigor?" Triya puffed out her cheeks.

Vishnu blinked. "Ah. Hm. Think of it as a magic source. It can be replenished through eating or sleeping."

"Hoti Vishnu." Triya said again, pointing at the same tree.

"Why isn't anything happening?" She asked.

"I don't feel you drawing on my transcendentals." Vishnu said thoughtfully. Then, he glanced at her. "Triya, do you believe in me?"

Triya stared at him, bewildered. "Huh?"

"Do you believe that I'm a god?"

"I mean, you call yourself a god, so I guess?"

Vishnu sighed. "In the first place, that sort of belief won't work if you want to cast divine magic."

"Excuse me for being an atheist." Triya huffed.

"That means nonbeliever, right?"

"A person who doesn't believe in the existence of a god or gods." She recited. "Fine, forget divine magic. How do I use transcendentals?"

"As Tak's daughter, you should be able to use the same transcendentals he can, if weaker."

"So my dad's the sura." Triya nodded firmly. Vishnu gave her an amused look.

"As a Vritra half, you have a sura form as well." He reminded.

"How do I turn into a sura then?"

"If I told you, Tak would get mad at me." Vishnu laughed.

Triya's mouth dropped open. "You- You goddamned tease!" She accused.

"You don't believe in gods and yet you invoke their name so casually." Vishnu mused.

"What? Goddamn? It's just a swear."

"Damnation." Vishnu muttered, and refused to say anymore no matter how much Triya poked at him with her very pointy claws.

* * *

Okay. Apparently, Vritra clan suras and halfs were supposed to have dulled emotions. Why did no one tell Triya that?

"That's odd, you used to be so mellow." Ian said, running her fingers through Triya's hair.

"Until Vishnu dropped me on the head." Triya said cheerfully, making her father twitch.

Kasak sat beside her on their mother's lap, as far away as he could from Tak.

From what Triya learnt, after finally getting hold of a mirror, she looked a lot like Ian, minus the horns and claws and everything she got from her father.

Which, given her father's utter devotion to her mother, explained an unfortunate lot.

Kasak really got the short end of the stick here.

"Hey dad?" Triya asked. The man glanced at her. Nope, he looked fully human, not a sura trait to be seen.

"What does your sura form look like? Vishnu wouldn't teach me how to turn into a sura."

For a moment, Tak looked confused. "You already know how to do that." He said, glancing at Kasak.

"I lost my memory, dad." Triya said flatly, reminding herself that Vishnu was an absolute troll.

Tak stood up from Ian's side and took off his earrings. Four short horns appeared on his head. Triya blinked. In just one second, he was a distance away, his face a blurry blob.

Then, he started to glow. And wow, her father was huge.

Tak lowered his gigantic head to face them.

Triya slid off Ian's lap and looked up at her father. She didn't even reach his chin.

"Dad! You look like a dragon!" Triya gasped with shining eyes, patting the huge sura on the side of his chin.

Tak rolled his eyes and spread his wings. At this point, Triya was starting to think that he was trying to impress her.

Which wasn't that hard to believe, sadly.

"Mom! Mom! Dad! Can we go flying?" Triya asked excitedly.

Kasak looked grumpy, as he usually did with anything to do with Tak. Ian, however, looked like she was considering it.

"If it's fine with your father, I don't see why not."

When Tak nodded, just the slightest bit, Triya hugged the dragon. Then, she realised a problem.

"I'm way too small." She whispered.

Tak turned to the side. Very slowly and carefully, he moved his tail.

Triya scrambled onto the appendage, and carefully made her way to her father's back. Then, she paused, panting, before running towards his neck.

She sat between two large scales and looked around. "Wow, dad, you're huge!"

'Hold tight.' Tak said and walked away.

"Eh? You're not going to fly?"

'…'

After a minute of walking, Triya could no longer see their home. Then, Tak flapped his wings. And Triya knew why he didn't take off back then. "The forest's gone." She said numbly, looking at the blackened area. "Dad's really amazing."

Tak didn't say anything, but Triya could feel a faint feeling of satisfaction. Which was weird, because didn't her mother say that Tak could only display anger?

She decided to consult Vishnu about it in their magic theory sessions.

But for now, she enjoyed the wind blasting in her face, sheltered between her father's scales.

* * *

"Empathy." Vishnu said sagely, even though Triya knew that he was pulling it out of his ass.

"So you think that I can feel emotions? I thought dad couldn't feel anything other than anger?"

"Only his anger was considerably amplified relative to his other numbed emotions. Tak can feel love and affection as well, for you and your mother."

"Not Kasak?" Triya asked, thinking about her twin.

"Tak has a rocky relationship with him." Vishnu said.

"No kidding, talk about extreme favouritism. I've been giving Kasak all my favourite snacks to make up for it."

"In the first place, a Vritra half like you being able to show so much emotion is an oddity in itself."

"Oh yeah, and thanks for telling me that I hadn't learnt how to turn into a sura yet, you absolute troll." Triya said flatly.

"It should be instinctive on your part." Vishnu said unrepentantly.

"No magic, no suras, no gods." Triya retorted.

"Even if you ask me, it's not as though I can explain it."

"Do I need to visualise it or something? Or do I just need the intent?"

"Usually, just the intent is enough."

"Fine then. Sura transformation, on!" Triya punched the air.

Nothing happened.

"That is the first time I've seen something as ridiculous as that." Vishnu said, the liar.

"If you can't say anything nice, then don't say anything at all." Triya scolded. "Make me a dragon!"

"…"

"Just laugh." She told him flatly.

Vishnu smirked. "Perhaps it's a subconscious reaction. You don't believe that suras exist so you can't turn into one."

"I've seen dad turn into a fuc-fudging dragon. I know they exist."

"But do you believe that you can turn into one?"

"…Point. Okay, fine. Scratch that. Animagus. My animagus form is a dragon. I'm a goddamned wizard, and I have an animagus form. So make me a dragon!"

Nothing.

"What's an animagus?"

"It's an animal form that a wizard can take- from a popular fantasy book where magic exists."

"It's disconcerting hearing someone compare a sura to an animal."

"No magic, no sura, no gods." Triya repeated. Then, she stopped. "Hey Vishnu, you're like an ultra-powerful god, right?"

"Essentially."

"Do something amazing. Make me believe that you're actually a god."

"Asking something like that out of the blue…" Vishnu shook his head. He waved his hand, and suddenly the field they were sitting in was full of flowers. Triya brushed a claw against one. It felt real. Probably was real.

"In the end, belief really is important. But if I can't believe, then I'll just use logic to make up for it." Triya said. "I still can't wrap my head around the existence of gods, but I can compare this to magic. If magic exists, then an animagus form is possible. Right now, I have horns and claws, so I'm in a partial transformation. I just have to complete to transformation into a dragon." She closed her eyes.

"…You've been doing that for a while now."

"Shh! I need to concentrate!" Triya held up a claw.

"The sun is setting."

"Then reverse the sun, goddamnit!"

"Have you considered that you've accepted the existence of magic, but not that you can do it?"

"…Why didn't you tell me that earlier?"

"You seemed so determined." Vishnu smiled, the utter troll.

Triya sighed. "So I need to be able to use magic to believe that I can use it. To believe that I can use it, I need to turn into a dragon. But to be able to turn into a dragon, I also need to use magic so that I can believe."

"When you put it like that…"

"Fine. You made dad's earrings, right?"

"Yes, but," Vishnu started. "Then you can make other magical artifacts, right?" Triya interrupted.

"To put it simply, I don't trust you to handle whatever artifacts I create without trying to disprove them or dismantle them."

Triya started, then stopped. "Can't we just try?"

Vishnu nodded thoughtfully. "What would be an artefact that could make you believe, or at least trick your mind into believing that you can use magic?"

"Something like that, an illusion that you're the one doing something when actually it's the thing you're gonna give me?"

"An illusion?" Vishnu repeated.

"Yeah. Human minds are like, super easy to trick. We fall for optical illusions, hallucinations, and believe that there are…" Triya trailed off. "We see things in the dark because we believe that they're there! Holy shi-sticks."

"Something came to mind?"

"Childhood! I forgot my entire childhood! I rode on a dragon, and I can't believe that I forgot, my entire-! Gah!"

Vishnu looked politely confused.

"Can you create something that can instantaneously change my clothes?"

"…Yes, I should be able to." Vishnu said slowly, looking at me oddly.

"Magical girl transformation." Triya explained, which, actually, didn't explain much at all.

She got a cool ring out of it, so yay.

Triya tapped on the engraving on the ring, and her clothes changed into a sparkly outfit which she had requested.

"Magical girl transformation! With this, I can turn into a dragon!"

An odd feeling came over Triya. She felt her limbs elongate, and extra appendages appear.

"I can truly say now that you surprise me." Vishnu said.

'I don't wanna hear that from you, you troll.' Triya said. She blinked. 'This, isn't human speech?'

"Most suras can't speak to humans. You and your brother are exceptions in that you can understand and speak both."

'This is so surreal. I'm a motherfuc- uh, yikes, don't go there, don't go there. I mean, I'm a totally awesome dragon.'

Vishnu looked like he couldn't decide between being amused or disturbed.

"I'm keeping the ring." Triya told Vishnu, successfully returning to a human form after way too many attempts.

The god apparently wasn't petty enough to argue with her.


	2. Chapter 2

"Vishnu taught me how to use magic." Triya said, sipping at a cup of milk.

"What kind of magic?" Ian asked.

"Hoti vishnu."

There was a long pause as her mother looked at her father.

"Halfs shouldn't be able to learn divine magic." She said.

Tak nodded.

"Why can Triya do it?"

"Vishnu said it's 'cause I got permission from him, and that I believe that gods aren't real anyway, so any magic I use is something that I envision which I subconsciously alter the transcendentals that I got from dad to perform." Triya explained. "I discuss magic theory with him a lot." She added.

"I have a Destruction aspect." Tak said.

"Oh yeah, I know." Triya nodded. "But I don't believe in aspects either, so it's completely malleable when it comes to me. Because destruction is like eradication, or the process in which something ceases to exist. So when I think that the wilted flowers were destroyed, it can mean that the wilted flowers are no longer wilted, so they must be fresh!"

"That's- That's not how magic works, dear." Ian said faintly.

"Tell that to Vishnu. He's the one who helped me come up with an explanation to deceive my own mind."

* * *

"Is there a reason why you've been spending so much time teaching me?" Triya asked.

"If I can't see your future, then that means that Kali must not have expected you either."

"The enemy of the enemy is my friend, huh? Or rather, the enemy that my enemy doesn't expect is my student."

Vishnu smirked. "Quite simply, you defy everything possible about magic, because you don't believe in gods or suras."

"Then do you think that it's possible that magic won't work on me?" Triya asked.

Vishnu looked at the ring on her finger pointedly.

"Okay, point taken." Triya said quickly. "Say, all your futures that you see now don't include me, right?"

"The reactions of your parents and your brother to you can be observed. All other traces of you, however, are non-existent."

"So I exist to you only as a reaction?"

"You could put it that way." Vishnu agreed.

"Huh." Triya said, looking at her claws. "That aside, if I say that I'm going to temporarily destroy the fabric of space to create a gateway to another dimension, d'you think it'd work?"

"Try it." Vishnu said simply.

Triya held up a clawed hand in front of her and pulled it down. There was the feeling of something ripping in the air.

She glanced at the portal-gateway thing she had made. There was a river in that supposed other dimension.

She looked at Vishnu, who looked somewhat troubled.

"Woah, what's this?" Someone poked their head through.

Triya looked at the red-haired man, then at Vishnu, and decided that pride could go take a hike. She ducked between Vishnu's legs and hid behind him.

"Vishnu? Who's that behind you?"

"No one!" Triya squeaked.

"This is Triya, Taksaka's daughter." Vishnu said, stepping aside. "Triya, this is Agni, the god of fire."

"Um, nice to meet you?" Triya said carefully.

Agni gave her a smile and a wave. "Why'd you tear a hole to Yama's place?" He asked, turning to Vishnu.

"…" Vishnu stared at Triya.

"He told me to try!" Triya pointed at Vishnu.

Agni turned to Triya, then to Vishnu, his smile fading away. "You weren't expecting me." He said, glancing back at the hole in reality. "You weren't expecting her to tear a hole that would lead to Yama's place."

"Didn't you say that it was supposed to be a secret?" Triya asked Vishnu flatly.

"Shall we go somewhere else?" Vishnu asked, gesturing at the portal.

* * *

Triya stared at the portal while the adults talked.

"Learn to close it, Triya. Fix the problem you made, Triya." She grumbled, glaring at the hole from the other side.

"Destroy the hole." Vishnu turned his attention away from the three gods. "You're disrupting time."

Triya huffed and tried touching the top of the portal. There was a ripping sound and the portal disappeared.

"This is the first time someone has entered my dimension by accident." Yama said.

"…Sorry?" Triya offered.

"Vishnu, you intend to use her?" Brahma asked.

"The best possible future has already been lost." Vishnu replied.

"And because of that, you carelessly meddle around?"

"Insight cannot be used on her."

"I never took you for someone so fickle."

"It's interesting, is it not? The concept of a soul from another universe altogether. I certainly did not expect something like that to exist."

"And you think that Kali wouldn't either."

The two of them glanced at Triya who was peering at the stacks of paperwork, despite Yama's complaints.

"I see nothing but a child."

"Triya has a lot of potential. She is unlimited by the constraints of magic. As long as something can be destroyed, even if it is the fabric of space, she can do it."

"Oddly, you have a lot of trust in her." Brahma observed.

"She questions everything about this world. The only thing that I have yet to try is to see if the Taraka's abilities will work on her."

"And if it does?"

"Then she will be another failure." Vishnu replied easily.

"You know that I can hear the two of you, right?" Triya asked. "It's seriously rude, by the way."

The two primeval gods ignored her.

"Does Taksaka know that you're here?" Agni asked abruptly.

"No? Why?" Triya blinked.

"Time flows slowly in my dimension. It should have already been a few months." Yama said.

"Eh?" Triya said dumbly. Then, she panicked. "Oi! Vishnu! Stop complaining about that evil god of yours! I need to get home now now now! Mom's gonna kill me!"

* * *

"You went missing for two months." Ian said calmly.

"I'm sorry…" Triya said tearfully.

Kasak just watched, peering from behind the kitchen counter. "Why do you spend all your time with that guy?" He asked after Triya had been sufficiently scolded.

"Who? Vishnu? He's okay, and he teaches me loads of stuff!" Triya said.

"You don't play with me anymore." Kasak scowled.

Triya blinked. "Learning magic is more fun! You should try it too!"

"I don't wanna!" He shouted and ran off. Trisha looked at him go, confused.

"In a future where you didn't exist, Kasak was very possessive of his mother." Vishnu said.

"But I exist. And as his twin, I used to spend most of my time with him. So he wants me to pay more attention to him." Triya concluded. Then, she groaned. "Ahh, this sucks!"

"Do you not have experience with children?"

"I was the youngest, okay?" Triya scowled.

"That's not very surprising." Vishnu said.

"What about you? I heard that you're looking after a kid too? Ka- Kala something."

"Kalavinka." Vishnu corrected.

"Shouldn't you be spending more time with her instead of me?"

"I could bring her over for a visit." Vishnu mused.

"Oi, that's not what I meant."

"She's still trying to develop to her third stage." Vishnu continued.

"You're actually a pretty doting parent, aren't you?" Triya asked.

"I intended to bring her here twelve years later, but with you around, my visions are no longer accurate. Well, it might do her some good to meet you."

"Sometimes you're actually a nice guy." Triya conceded.

"Well, I do hope that she won't learn from your recklessness." Vishnu added.

"I take back what I said." Triya said immediately.

* * *

"Mom! Dad! Kasak! I'm going to Yama's place for a while! So don't worry if I disappear for a couple of years!" Triya announced.

"No way." Tak said immediately.

For once, Kasak agreed with him.

"It's just a while. Not even a day!" Triya pouted.

"The last time you spent an hour there, you were gone for two months here." Ian said. Triya winced.

"I'll try not to take over a year!"

"A month away is already bad enough!"

In the end, they managed to reach a compromise.

"Three hours, that's the limit." Ian finally said, and Triya was honestly surprised that she managed to get that much out of her mother.

"Why are you here again?" Yama asked, annoyed.

"To visit!" Triya said cheerily, peering at the paperwork. "If it's just cancellation, why not use a computerised system?"

"And risk something going wrong?"

Triya winced. "Okay, point taken."

She paused, watching the god work. "Do you need help?" She asked, feeling almost sorry for him given the entire towers of papers next to him.

That pity was gone when he gave her a pen and dumped a stack on top of her.

"All these are…"

"The paperwork for humans who've reached their set lifespan or died before their time."

Triya fell silent, scanning through the words.

"Just sort them according to which ones you think should go to hell or paradise."

"You're leaving this up to a kid?" Triya asked, moving her pen.

Yama didn't bother to reply her.

"Why are you really here?" Yama asked later, after the tower of paperwork had halved.

"I guess I just wanted a break. Vishnu keeps hinting to me that I'm messing up the future he's planned, so I thought that the best way to not interfere with anything is to stay out of the way."

"That guy… He's a master of trial and error. After Ananta died, the best possible future ceased to exist, so he's trying for the next best."

"And I'm not included, apparently, except as a countermeasure for when Kali appears."

Yama made a sound of agreement.

"Hey, how long has it been?" Triya asked, putting the pen down and stretching her sore muscles.

"Two hours since you've came." Yama replied, not looking at her.

"Wow. Two hours of reading through people's life stories and how they died. It really makes you value life more, huh?"

For some reason, that made Yama look at her oddly.

"What?" Triya asked defensively.

"Normally, it would make one think of life as trivial."

"Well, there are a lot of deaths." Triya conceded. "But learning how they died, and their last wishes… I think mortality is a wonderful thing. Life is short, and you never know what'll happen, but there's always something that will make it worth living, even until your death."

"Gods don't die." Yama said.

"I think that you need to take a walk around sometime." Triya told him frankly. "You look at all these, and you don't see individual stories, you just see it as a job."

"I've been doing this for millions of years."

"That long? Yikes, no wonder you're so grumpy. You need a break."

Yama rolled his eyes and ignored her.

"I'm serious. If you keep that up, you'll have no more appreciation for life."

"Telling the God of Death to appreciate life is just idealistic."

"The time here flows slower than in other realms, right? So just take a visit to some other realm to relax for a bit, then you can continue shutting yourself up like a hermit."

Yama didn't take her advice. Triya huffed and went back home once the time limit was up.

* * *

"Dad, what's the sura realm like?" Triya asked sometime after her return, having missed Kalavinka's short stay with Ian and Tak.

"…Annoying." Tak replied.

The two of them were out in the flower fields, after Kasak had confided to her that he wanted to spend some time alone with Ian.

"Don't you have any friends there?"

"Hm. There's an annoying guy living in my nest."

"…Nest? Dad, I wanna see!"

"It's dangerous."

"But you'll be there, right, dad? Dad's the strongest after all."

"…Fine. But don't leave my side."

"Okay!"

"The air is poisonous and the gravity is too strong for you to handle."

Triya's smile faltered slightly, but Tak continued.

"There are a lot of suras who would want to attack and eat you."

Triya's smile faded.

"And sometimes the nastikas will fight and you might get caught up and die."

"Dad! I get it already! I won't go running off on my own! Can we go?" Triya asked, exasperated.

Tak gave her a small smile and held out a hand. Triya slipped her small clawed hand in his. Then, Tak took off his earrings.

Tak wasn't kidding when he said that the sura realm was dangerous.

Triya stuck close to her father, whose presence alone seemed to deter anyone and everyone. Honestly, Triya was starting to think that her father was actually some sort of big-shot sura.

After a few minutes of walking around in the barren wasteland, Tak stopped. He bent down and picked up Triya.

"Uh, dad?" Triya asked, not that she was complaining about getting a free ride.

Then, Tak ran.

And wow, he was fast.

Triya peered over his shoulder and watched the scenery pass by in a blur.

"Here." Tak said after a while, setting her down. Triya looked up at the tall black pillars. "Wow. This place is huge!" She said, grabbing her father's hand tighter.

"Tak! I knew I felt you! Welcome… back…" Someone walked towards the entrance, their sentence trailing off.

"Dad? Who's that?" Triya asked.

"D-Dad? What the-? You have a kid!" The redheaded woman said incredulously.

"Shut up Huia." Tak said without much heat.

"Dad? Who's that?" Triya repeated.

"That's Vasuki." Tak said shortly, gently tugging her further into his nest.

"…Okay." Triya said, then waited expectantly.

For a moment, she felt confusion emitting from the dragon, then realization. "My best friend who's hiding away from reality in here." He continued.

"Nice to meet you, Miss Vasuki. I'm Triya Rajof." Triya said politely.

Vasuki stared at her, then at Tak.

"You- Ahahaha!" She burst out laughing. "She looks nothing like you!"

"I've been told that I look more like my mom." Triya said. "She's really pretty."

"Prettier than me?" Vasuki teased.

Triya squinted.

"Yes." Tak replied for her.

"Pfft. What happened to 'I'll never have children', huh?"

Triya turned to her father with wide eyes.

"I changed my mind." Tak said, putting a hand on her head. Triya beamed.

"But dad, you need to be nicer to Kasak." Triya scolded.

"Kasak?" Vasuki parroted.

"My twin brother! He's really really cute!" Triya spread out her arms wide.

"Is she really your child?" Vasuki asked.

"Yes. If I'm not dad's child, I wouldn't have these." Triya said, poking the horns on her head.

"I thought the Vritra were supposed to have numbed emotions. Looks like it doesn't affect halfs, huh?" Vasuki said, poking at Triya's horns.

"It does. Kasak doesn't feel as much as I do. Vishnu said that I'm an abnormality." Triya explained without giving away much of what Vishnu actually said.

"Vishnu? Tak, am I the last to know about your lover and your kids?"

"You didn't bother coming out of hiding." Tak said flatly.

"Ahh, enough of that. You have the same invisible fire as your father, right?"

"…Invisible fire? Dad, I can breathe invisible fire?" Triya asked with sparkling eyes.

"…" Tak touched her forehead.

"Vishnu dropped me on the head." Triya reminded him. "Dad! Dad! I wanna learn!"

"You already know." Tak repeated not for the first time.

"I forgot how!" Triya pouted.

"Instead of you, it's your daughter that's suffering from mental damage." Vasuki laughed, and dodged the punch that Tak tried to give her.

"Fine then. If you're so smart, then why don't you reteach me how." Triya huffed.

"Eh?" Vasuki pointed at herself.

Triya nodded.

"But I'm not a dragon, you know." She said humorously.

"Then what are you?"

"I'm a snake."

"…Isn't a snake just a dragon without legs?" Triya asked blankly.

Vasuki glanced quickly at Tak, who apparently didn't care about what insults his daughter had to say about him.

"Alright then. You hold your breath until you feel your throat burn, then you cough it out-!" Vasuki said, then ducked, avoiding another punch.

"Don't give her useless advice!" Tak snapped.

"Dad, you're not actually helping much either." Triya said.

"…" Tak didn't have a reply to that.

"Invisible fire is fire. I'm a dragon so of course I can breathe fire. But how does it work? Is it channelled magic, or a transcendental skill that I'm borrowing or something in my biology?"

"It's a transcendental."

"…I can use transcendentals?" Triya asked, amazed.

"Ripping a portal to another realm is considered a transcendental skill."

"But that's just a subset of the abilities I inherited from you." Triya frowned.

"You use magic in an odd way." Tak said.

"…Thank you? So it's the same feeling I get when destroying stuff?" Triya asked. Without waiting for a reply, she turned to face the outside of the nest, gathered her magic, and breathed.

Nothing.

"It didn't work." Triya sighed, then geared herself up for another shot.

"Wait." Tak said.

Triya turned to her father.

Then, there was a soft, distant crashing sound.

"It's invisible, you know?" Vasuki added cheerfully.

Triya blinked, then smiled. "Awesome! That's the first time I got something right on my first try!"

"…" Tak hesitated, as if uncertain if he should say something. Then, "It could be better."

"Duh, of course it could be better. I had no idea what I was doing." Triya said flippantly.

She fired out another shot.

This time, the time taken before the crash resounded was shorter.

Triya beamed up at her father who indulgently patted her head.

Vasuki watched from a distance away, feeling like her world had just turned upside down.

* * *

"I heard that Gandharva's daughter was kidnapped by the gods." Vasuki said abruptly.

"Eh?" Triya stared at the nastika, confused.

"…You think that they would do the same to my family." Tak said.

"Ehh?" Triya turned to her father.

"Well, most of them don't think that you'd care, but…" Vasuki grimaced.

"But I'm technically Yama's assistant. If anyone tries to kidnap me, if dad doesn't fight them first, Brahma probably will." Triya said.

"…Huh? Yama? Brahma? How'd you get to know them?"

"It's Vishnu's fault. I had an idea and he egged me on." Triya complained. "Hey dad, do you have friends who have kids?"

"Hm? No." Tak grunted.

"…Shess—" Vasuki started.

"No." Tak interrupted her.

"…Tak, you're way too protective." Vasuki muttered. "Your daughter's never going to grow up at this rate. She'll become an antisocial hermit like you."

Tak glared at her.

"I wanna meet kids my age! I missed Sha- um, um, her visit!" Triya hurriedly corrected herself. "I wanna spend time with people who aren't ancient!"

"And mom and Kasak don't count!" Triya added.

"…Riagara?" Tak turned to Vasuki.

"She went back to the Ananta clan." Vasuki shrugged.

"Urp… I guess I won't ever know what normal children are like…" Triya sighed.

"You're special enough." Tak said.

"Dad, you suck at compliments." Triya said flatly.

"…"

"Ahh, whatever. Dad, can we go see other places? I wanna see what the territory of the other clans are like!"

"Okay." Tak agreed immediately.

"Tak, you're way too soft when it comes to your daughter." Vasuki said.

"Why? If it's inconvenient, we don't have to go." Triya replied, honestly confused.

"…Never mind. I'll just stay here and laugh at the fallout. Have fun!" Vasuki waved at them.

"Dad, you should bring your best friend home to see mom sometime. I'm sure that they'd get along well." Triya advised once they had returned to Willarv. Tak put on his earrings, not bothering to respond.

"Daddd!" Triya whined.

"I'll consider it." Tak said, even though Triya knew that he was just humouring her.

She huffed and followed her father back home.


End file.
